We Were in Screaming Color
by ihearttvsnark
Summary: Cami finds herself an unwilling pawn in Esther's latest plan to get Klaus to see things her way.


She's lying on the ground again.

It's the first thought that enters Cami's mind as she slowly drifts toward consciousness. The concrete is cold at her back and there's a sharp pain in her head, one that makes her think twice about opening her eyes. She shifts and the hard ground beneath her scrapes against her hand. She tries to think, tries to recall where she is. It's too quiet to be the bar, but she remembers working her shift and locking up for the evening. And then…nothing.

With a quiet groan, Cami blows out a shaky breath and slowly opens her eyes, only to find herself staring at a rock wall. Not exactly helpful in determining her location, but she can see shadows bouncing off the wall that look like reflections from candles. Cami pushes herself up into a half-sitting position and for a moment, she feels the world turning on its axis. She brings her hand to her head and finds the lump on her forehead. Someone knocked her out, but she can't seem to bring up a picture of her attacker in her mind's eye.

Her hand is still pressed to the lump as she turns her head to the side and gasps when she sees that she's not alone. "Klaus?" Cami's on her feet in an instant, all the pain momentarily forgotten at the sight of Klaus, his arms and legs crossed in front of him and his head hanging limply against his chest. She rushes toward him, barely noticing the circle drawn around him as she drops to her knees. "Klaus, can you hear me?" She grips his shoulders and shakes him, but he doesn't move.

Panic rises in her chest and Cami takes his face in her hands, tilting his head up from his chest. His eyes are closed, but she doesn't see any blood or obvious wounds. "Klaus, wake up," she says as she glances around the small space. There are candles everywhere and she can see the night sky a few feet away. "This must be one of the tombs." Her eyes fall on the circle again and she's learned enough over the past few months to recognize it as part of a witch's spell. "Klaus, please wake up. We need to get out of here." She shakes him again, but his head just falls back to his chest once more.

"It's too soon for him to wake up."

Cami keeps her hands on his shoulders and glances back to see a woman approaching the circle with a smile on her face that looks almost welcoming like she's just invited them over for tea. It's not the look of a woman who's kidnapped two people and brought them to a tomb for what Cami can only assume is a terrible purpose. She swallows her panic and meets the woman's gaze. "Esther."

Her smile grows. "Hello Camille," Esther replies. She stops just short of entering the circle, her gaze flickering to Klaus before she turns back to Cami. "I must apologize for the circumstances, but these are dire times. Unfortunately, Niklaus has refused to cooperate so he needs to stay asleep a bit longer."

"Like you wanted Elijah to cooperate?" Cami asks. Marcel had told her that Esther had been behind Elijah's disappearance and Klaus had brought him back home. Those were the only details she had, but she assumed it had something to do with Esther's plan to turn her children into witches that Klaus had described. "Torturing your children won't make them love you."

Esther laughs and Cami holds onto Klaus a little bit tighter as the sound bounces off the rock walls and chills her to the bone. She'd seen Mikael's insanity firsthand, but from what Klaus told her, Esther sounded even worse and now they were both at her mercy. Aside from the candles, there's nothing in the tomb with them and the only way out is past Esther. As if reading her thoughts, Esther's smile grows.

"I don't know what you've heard about me, but I've always only wanted the best for my children. I made a mistake when I turned them into vampires and this is my chance to undo it and give them the lives they always should have been living. Niklaus is not being tortured." She steps forward and Cami instinctively presses closer to Klaus. Esther ignores her and places her hand on her son's head.

"He's too stubborn for his own good, but I'm showing him the life he could have if he gave up this poison form." Esther begins to stroke his hair. "From what I've observed, I believe there's a role for you in the life Niklaus covets." She looks down at Cami and her smile disappears. "Unfortunately, I need you to play a different part."

The panic she'd tried to ignore rushes back, but Cami refuses to cower. "Is that why you kidnapped me? So you could try to use me against Klaus? You're wasting your time. He's not going to take your deal and I'm never going to help you."

"That's where you're wrong." Esther steps out of the circle and folds her hands in front of her. "Niklaus needs to see what's waiting for him and then he needs one final reminder why he can never be happy as long as he's an abomination. When he wakes, he'll be ravenous as if he hasn't had blood in decades. He won't be able to control himself."

Cami's heart thumps against the wall of her chest as Esther's words sink in. "You brought me here to be his dinner?" she asks, disgusted. She's starting to think Klaus is actually well-adjusted considering the people who raised him. "Klaus won't hurt me." Her voice is confident and strong as she meets Esther's gaze. "But even if he did, it's not like he's never killed anyone. He can live with it."

Esther laughs. "You know better than that. Or maybe you don't, but that can be easily fixed." She closes her eyes and mutters something quietly. Cami can't hear the words, but she recognizes it as Latin and assumes it's a spell. She opens her mouth, but Esther waves her hand and Cami sags against Klaus, her eyes falling shut with no direction from her brain.

(~)(~)(~)

When Cami opens her eyes again, she's lying on a couch. She sits up, her hand automatically going to her forehead. The lump is still there, but the pain is gone. She doesn't recognize the room that she's in – it's an office with an oak desk and matching bookshelves along with the couch and glass table in front of it. There's a window behind the desk and she spots the New Orleans skyline rising up from the river. The sound of a door opening catches her attention and she turns to see Klaus striding into the room. He's dressed in a suit and speaking into the Bluetooth tucked into his ear.

"I need you to move that meeting." He laughs as he walks right past her, pausing to drop the briefcase he carries on the desk before he moves behind it, unbuttons his blazer and sits down in the leather chair. "I know the police commissioner is a prickly fellow, but it's best for everyone if Elijah is there and he can't make the meeting this afternoon." His eyes go to the computer and then he thanks the caller and pulls the Bluetooth from his ear, tucking it into his pocket.

"Klaus?" Cami's legs shake as she tries to get her bearings and takes a step forward, but he pays no attention to her. "Klaus, what is this place?" she asks. Cami puts her hands on the desk and leans forward so she's at his eyelevel. "Klaus!"

"No need to shout, love. He can't hear you."

Cami spins around, nearly falling over when she finds Klaus standing behind her, casually leaning against the wall. She glances back quickly and sees the other Klaus still at the desk, scrolling through email and jotting notes on a pad of paper. "What is happening?" She feels like she should know the answer, like it's rolling around in her head, but she can't seem to grasp it long enough to understand.

"This is Esther's doing," Klaus replies. He moves away from the wall and joins Cami near the desk, his eyes focused on the other version of him. "I tried snapping his neck, but he just keeps working. The mayor's work is never done," he mutters.

"He's the mayor?" Saying the words out loud doesn't make them sound any less insane so she focuses on the part about Esther. "I talked to your mother." She remembers the tomb and finding Klaus unconscious, but there was something else Esther said, something important. "Klaus, what's happening?"

Klaus sighs and moves around the desk to pluck the pen from Mayor Klaus' hand. He snaps it in half and tosses it back on the desk. Mayor Klaus picks it up again and it's suddenly whole as he adds more notes to the legal pad. "This is Esther's way of showing me how life would be different. She's been whispering nonsense in my ear for days and it's getting tiresome, Mother." He raises his voice on the last word, almost as if he expects Esther to appear.

Cami walks to the window, her mind still struggling to put the pieces together. The city looks exactly the same, but now Klaus is the mayor. She can see why Esther would choose that path to appeal to him. He craves power and control, but she also knows that no matter how much he had, it wouldn't be enough to replace people who care about him. "That's why you're not falling for it." She glances back at Klaus, ignoring the mayoral version who doesn't even know they're there. "Klaus, you have to wake up."

Before he can answer, the office door opens once again and Elijah strides into the room. "Morning, Brother," he greets Mayor Klaus with a smile as he takes a seat in the chair across from him. "Were you able to reschedule the meeting with the commissioner?" he asks.

Mayor Klaus returns his brother's smile as the Klaus she knows rolls his eyes and folds his arms across his chest, a bored expression on his face. "I am the mayor," he reminds his brother with a smirk. "The meeting will be rescheduled and my chief counsel will be able to attend his daughter's recital. There's no need for Hayley to send me threatening text messages."

Elijah laughs. "Getting her way will not stop her," he says fondly. "There are a few other matters we need to discuss." He pulls an iPad from his jacket pocket and scrolls through it. As the two men talk about city business, sharing laughs in between serious talk, Cami watches the Klaus she knows. She can feel the annoyance vibrating off him, but as the conversation progresses and laughter echoes off the walls, his expression starts to become wistful.

Cami can't help thinking it would be nice if he could have this – a partnership with his brother that has nothing to do with fighting supernatural wars or hurting each other at every turn. She immediately pushes the thought away and takes a step forward to lay her hand on his arm, drawing his attention away from the scene at the desk. "Klaus, you need to wake up so we can go back. This isn't real. It's Esther. You don't need her permission to spend time with your brother. Wake up," she urges.

His eyes drift to the desk once more and then his expression hardens. "I'm not falling for your tricks, Mother! Elijah and I ran this city without your help once and we can do it again. You'll need to do better than this if…"

(~)(~)(~)

Cami blinks and reaches out to steady herself against the countertop. She can hear a radio playing in the background and then the low hiss of a teapot on the stove beside her. She blinks again and tries to remember how she got there. The teapot lets out another wail and she feels a thought leave her brain before she can understand it. Shaking her head in an effort to clear the fog, she moves to turn off the kettle and reaches for a mug in the cabinet. A different song comes on the radio and she hums it under her breath as she pours the tea and then grabs an apple from the bowl in the middle of the counter.

She carries both into the living room and takes a seat on the couch. She's not going to tell anyone that she might have fallen asleep standing up in the kitchen because she does not want to hear any lectures about doing too much. Cami sips her tea and reaches for her laptop, the research she'd been looking at earlier still on the screen. Before she has a chance to pick up where she left off, she hears the front door open and her eyes drift to the corner of her screen to check the time. "Did you really leave work early to check on me?" she calls as she leans forward to set the computer back on the table.

Klaus appears in the doorway with his hand on his heart and an affronted look on his face. "Can't a busy mayor take a few extra hours to himself without an ulterior motive? Perhaps I came home to take a nap."

Cami rolls her eyes, even as she shifts on the couch so he can sit down. "You can take your nap, but I have some work to finish up before dinner needs to go in the oven." She starts to reach for the computer, but Klaus catches her hand in his as he settles in beside her. Cami raises an eyebrow, but he simply presses a kiss to her hand and then smiles as he waves toward her computer with his free hand.

"By all means," he says and the smile becomes a smirk that he wears far too often. "Go ahead and work instead of enjoying a quiet moment with your husband." Klaus sighs loudly, letting his fingers brush over hers. "Sean!" he calls and Cami narrows her eyes, but his smirk doesn't falter.

"Daddy!" Sean runs into the room, his dark blonde hair in disarray after his nap, green eyes flashing with excitement as he rushes toward the couch and leaps into his father's arms, forcing Klaus to let go of Cami's hand as he helps their son settle on his lap. "I made a picture at school!"

Cami has to bite her lip to hold back her smile, but she's not going to let Klaus win that easily, no matter how cute the two of them are together. She takes another sip of her tea and sees Klaus' smirk widen out of the corner of her eye.

"I look forward to seeing your latest masterpiece. But we should go into my study since your mother has work to do and we wouldn't want to disturb her, would we?" Klaus asks and Cami groans internally when she's faced with two identical pouts. "Come along, Sean." Klaus starts to get up and Cami reaches out to stop him, even though they both know he had no intention of leaving.

"Work can wait. Sean, go get your picture to show Daddy." Cami smiles and Sean scrambles off his father's lap and runs back to his room. Klaus laughs when she glares at him and then leans in to press a kiss to her lips. "That was low, Mr. Mikaelson."

"Nonsense," Klaus replies. "What kind of man wouldn't want to spend an afternoon with his wife and son? And their daughter," he adds as he splays his palm against her stomach, brushing his thumb along the bump that's just beginning to show through her clothes.

Cami smiles, warmth flooding her chest at the pure happiness on his face. She knows she should tell him about the moment in the kitchen earlier, but she doesn't want to worry him. Something stirs in the back of her mind, but it's gone quickly. She places her hand over his. "It could be another boy. The Mikaelson family is known for them," she reminds him.

Klaus shakes his head. "This one is a girl and she's going to be every bit as beautiful and smart as her mother. She'll have four uncles and an older brother to make sure she's protected. Mostly from boys who take after her Uncle Kol," he adds.

"She'll also have a mother, two aunts and an older cousin who will make sure she thinks for herself and can decide whether or not she wants protection from boys or anyone else," Cami replies pointedly. Klaus rolls his eyes, but wisely keeps quiet. She takes the opportunity to get a little payback. "Speaking of boys, your sister is bringing her new boyfriend to dinner tonight and you need to be on your best behavior."

His expression instantly darkens and it's Cami's turn to smirk. "Is it that Italian bloke? Enzyme?"

"_Enzo_," Cami corrects him even though they both know he remembers his name perfectly fine. "You and Elijah already did that overprotective brother thing at the fundraiser and you're both lucky there were a lot of people around or Rebekah might have stabbed you."

"It's not our fault Rebekah's taste in men has always been dreadful. Aside from Stefan," Klaus adds. "He was the one man who could have been worthy of my sister."

Cami sighs loudly and wonders what's keeping Sean because she does not need to hear this story again. "It's Rebekah's life and she's capable of making her own choices. Besides, if she's going to end up with a Salvatore, it should be Damon." Klaus narrows his eyes and Cami laughs and shifts closer to him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "What can I say? I've always preferred the bad boys with good hearts."

He smiles and leans in to kiss her again. Cami returns the kiss, the warmth fluttering in her chest once more. Even if he's threatening Rebekah's boyfriends, Cami knows Klaus is happy, happier than any of them thought possible and that's all she's ever wanted. Footsteps rushing down the stairs bring the kiss to an end and Klaus is still smiling when he settles back on his side of the couch. "Is my mother joining us tonight?"

That thought she can't quite latch onto flitters through her mind again and Cami frowns. "Esther," she says and a strange look crosses Klaus' face. Cami can't hear footsteps anymore and the room suddenly feels much too still. Klaus moves closer and takes her by the shoulders, his expression dark as he searches her face.

"Esther did this," he says and Cami doesn't understand why he looks so angry, but there's something else in his eyes, a sadness that wasn't there before and she wants to make it go away and ease his pain, but her head hurts and she can't think straight. There's something Klaus needs to know about Esther, something important.

She reaches for him, but her fingers only graze his cheek before everything goes black.

(~)(~)(~)

Cami wakes up on the ground again.

She recognizes the tomb when she opens her eyes, but that doesn't stop her hand from going to her stomach. There's no bump and logically, Cami knows there shouldn't be, but she can still feel Klaus' arms around her and his lips on hers and the sound of Sean's excited voice, but then it's all gone and it's only Esther in front of her.

"Do you understand now, Camille?" Esther asks.

The thought that had been plaguing her throughout the dream or spell or whatever the hell Esther had done to them finally comes to the surface of her mind and she does understand. She was part of the happy life Esther had shown Klaus and it had been happy. They'd been surrounded by family and love and her heart ached for all of them. And now she knew why Esther had wanted her there when Klaus woke up because he'd be in agony if he hurt her or worse if he…

Cami can't let her mind go there. She turns away from Esther and finds Klaus watching her. She doesn't know how much he's heard or if he remembers everything she does, but now she can finally warn him. "Klaus, you have to fight. She wants to break you, but you're strong. Don't let her win."

His eyes find hers and for a moment, it's like they're back in the dream. She sees the softness in them, the happy man underneath who just wants a family to love. Cami reaches out to brush her fingers against his cheek, but she stops, her fingers dangling midair, when she sees the change in his eyes. They're glowing yellow and when he opens his mouth, she sees his fangs. "Klaus, you have to fight."

"No," Klaus replies simply and then his fangs pierce her neck. Cami screams and tries to push him away, but he continues to feed from her. She struggles and begs him to stop, but he doesn't seem to hear her. Silent tears fall from her eyes as her strength fails her. Cami's head falls back and she sees Esther watching them with a satisfied smile on her face. Her plan is working and Cami knows she's failed Klaus when he needed her the most.

"I'm sorry," she whispers to Klaus before everything goes black.

(~)(~)(~)

The next time she wakes up, Cami's relieved that she's actually in a bed. She sighs and stretches out, enjoying the feeling of the silk sheets beneath her instead of the hard ground. As soon as the thought crosses her mind, Cami's wide awake and she attempts to sit up, only to be met with protests from her body. Every inch of her seems to hurt, but it's the ache in her neck that demands her attention. She brings her hand up and discovers a bandage against her skin.

"So much for it all being a dream," she mutters and tries again to sit up. She manages to lean against the headboard, but that's as far as her exhausted body will let her go. Cami doesn't recognize the room she's in and she definitely doesn't have the strength to deal with another kidnapping. Her eyelids flutter and as she considers letting sleep take her, Klaus appears in the doorway.

"How are you feeling?"

His voice is quieter than usual and Cami considers the possibility that this is a dream once again after all. Or worse, another one of Esther's spells, but that doesn't make sense because Esther got what she wanted. Klaus woke up and fed from her. But she's still alive. Cami send Klaus a questioning look and he moves further into the room to stand at the foot of the bed.

"Esther is not as complex as she believes herself to be," Klaus says. "I knew what she wanted when I felt the hunger so I played along until it seemed as if you were dead. She gave me one of her dreadful mother knows best sermons and released me to consider her offer."

Cami feels the throbbing in her neck again and she's still lightheaded from the blood loss. But she can remember the feeling of her life slipping away and the pain searing through her is not comforting. "How am I alive?" Even if Klaus stopped before he killed her, he drank so much of her blood that she should at the very least be in a hospital. "Oh God, I'm not going to be a vampire, am I?"

"No," Klaus replies. He nods toward the bedside table and Cami sees two empty blood bags. "Hayley compelled a doctor to give you a transfusion. It'll take time for your body to heal, but there's no danger of you transitioning."

Cami knew she should be relieved and she would be later when she let everything sink in, but she couldn't deal with anything that happened to her at the moment. "Klaus, I'm so sorry. I knew what Esther wanted and it kept going through my mind, but I couldn't hold onto it long enough to tell you."

"Do not apologize," Klaus replies. He moves closer, taking a seat on the bed beside her and his expression softens as he reaches out and brushes his fingers across the bandage on her neck. "Esther did this. She used you to bring me pain and I will make her pay for that. I am sorry, Cami."

"Don't," she says. Klaus starts to pull his hand back, but Cami's stops him, covering it with her own. "I mean don't apologize for what your mother did. You are not responsible for her actions. She's insane and she doesn't deserve another chance to be your mother. You already have people who care about you and we're not leaving." She holds his gaze, wanting him to see what she's not saying.

Klaus nods and gives her a small smile, but when it fades, the anger remains in his eyes. "You'll need to stay out of sight until we can find a way to stop her. You should get some rest. I'll check on you in the morning."

"Wait." Cami catches his hand as he starts to pull away and holds it tightly in hers. "How long were you trapped in that world before Esther sent me there? And how did you know I wasn't part of it when we were in the mayor's office?"

Klaus is quiet for a long moment and Cami wonders if it's too soon to talk about their experience. She has a lot of questions, but the last thing she wants is to make things more difficult for him. She squeezes his hand and he looks down at their joined hands and then meets her gaze.

"You were confused when you arrived. Elijah, Rebekah, Hayley, my other siblings," he adds as his expression hardens, "They paraded through the office without a care in the world. I knew when I saw you that Esther had sent you to further my torment."

Cami winces at that and it's her turn to look away. "I should have tried harder to remember. But then things went dark and I found myself in the kitchen and it was me." She glances up at Klaus and she can't read the expression on his face, but she feels his thumb brush against hers. Cami summons what's left of her strength and leans forward, wrapping her arms as tightly as she can around him.

He's stiff in her arms, just as he was the night she hugged him in the woods. But after a few seconds, he shifts and puts his arms around her too. Cami leans into him, her eyes falling shut as the weight of their experience hits her all at once. "Will you stay with me?" she whispers.

"I won't leave your side," Klaus replies. He gently eases her back until she's lying on the pillow once again. There are so many things she wants to say to him, but Cami knows she's fighting a losing battle as sleep begins to overtake her. She manages to reach for his hand again and as she drifts off, he laces his fingers through hers.

.


End file.
